The Tradition of U.S. Repression: Reflections on Racial Passing in Relation to the Color Line and the Racial Uncanny in Early 20th Century Literature Öffentlichkeit

Abstract

 

This research explores the relationship that racial passing in early twentieth century novels has to U.S. society. Utilizing novels, such as Passing by Nella Larsen, The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man by James Weldon Johnson, and Imitation of Life by Fannie Hurst, this analysis aims to explore the societal repression attributed to narratives of mixed-race and passing in the United States of America. The repression assigned to narratives of mixed-race bodies and passing figures arises from a sense of uncanniness, an idea put forth originally by Sigmund Freud, which explains the discovery of one’s fears manifesting in a familiar entity. While upholding ideology associated with the segregation of races through the strict implementation of the color line, U.S. society, as depicted in these texts, denies the mixing of races before and during the twentieth century—specifically during times of slavery. Therefore, when met with passing figures, individuals who adhere to the color line, including white folks, black folks, and other passing figures, experience a sense of fear and dread at the insurrection of potential race mixing. Further, this insurrection manifests in the policing of the color line by black folks, as expressed through the labeling of individuals who racially pass as race traitors. However, individuals who racially pass choose their identities, denying the perceived naturalization of race and embracing it more as a social construction. This choice assigns them to a position of race desertion, meaning that they forsake the U.S. constructions and identifications of race in order to assert a sense of agency.

Table of Contents

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..1

Chapter One: In Search of Her People: Clare Kendry’s Ascent to Blackness and Descent to Racial Deletion. ………………………………………………………………………………….10

Chapter Two: In Search of His Self: The Ex-Colored Man’s Socialization of Whiteness and Conversion to Blackness…………………………………………………………………………41

Chapter Three: In Search of Her Self: Peola’s Internalization of White Supremacy and Damnation Through Passing Against the U.S. Construction of God…………………………....59

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………….75

Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………..78

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	English
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Literature, English African American Studies
Stichwort	Tragic Mulatto African-American Literature Passing Narratives
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Knecht, Ross, Emory University
Committee Members	Gordon, Michelle, Emory University Wright, Michelle, Emory University

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